Rockstar founders load 4mm

Sam and Dan Houser may be the two most high-profile names to be associated with Rockstar Games, but the house that Grand Theft Auto built was actually founded by five people in total. Today, two of those founders--Jamie King and Gary Foreman--announced that they would be joining forces with former Image Metrics general manager Nicholas Perrett and NBC executive Paul Coyne to form a new development studio, 4mm Games.

King and Foreman will hold the positions of president and chief technical officer, respectively, at 4mm. Together, the two contributed to such acclaimed Rockstar franchises as Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, Max Payne, and Bully. Perrett will fill the role of chief executive officer, while Coyne will assume an executive vice president position. The independent studio is based in New York City, New York.

4mm did not detail its plans for the future, saying only that more information will be available in the coming weeks. However, studio founders did speak with Variety, revealing that the game maker's first efforts will be introduced through online mobile platforms like Apple's ubiquitous iPhone, before being adapted for Nintendo's, Microsoft's, and Sony's platforms.

According to the trade, 4mm has two unannounced titles currently in development, with the first expected to launch this year. As part of its announcement, 4mm said that it has entered into a multiyear, multigame financial partnership with investment firm CEA Autumn Games. Terms of the investment were not revealed.